Origins of Foxvale

The (Almost) Birth of an (Almost) Shire of a (Soon-to-be-Barony)

Foxvale was born simply enough at a holiday party. Our beginnings came not as an immediate response to any particular situation or event but more out of wishful thinking. Sir Galem Lional Ostwestly, his wife Lady Morgan and other sundry friends and family members were sitting around my kitchen table after having eaten way more than should be legally allowed.

At this point, movement was not really an option, which led to great musing by those present. In the mixed glow of a Menorah and Christmas lights we all began to muse (may also be read as complain) about LIFE….the REAL WORLD, and how our journeys into our society, and our support of our Kingdom had become minimal at best, at least for the majority of us.

Work issues, family concerns and a WHOLE LOT OF TRAFFIC between Lisle/Naperville and the Aurora area had put a damper in our play time. I kid you not; it could take an hour and a half one way to fighter practice. Which was very difficult if one wound up working past 7. After having a couple of fighter practice attempts in which we got there, put on armor, hit someone (or in my case, was hit by someone) and then five minutes later had to take armor off, became frustrating at best. Arts and Sciences, dance practice and other activities slowly went the same way as fighter practice.

So…there we were, sitting around the table bemoaning our evil fate when Sir Galem stated most profoundly, “if getting there is most of the problem, why not just start playing around here. “ He followed this with, “we could just start our own shire.” We laughed. We looked at each other. We laughed again. Then, someone said…”hmmm, maybe…” Many Traveler’s Inns, countless fighter practices, dance practices, A & S days, four events and who knows how many feasts served later…we slowly converged into what is now the “Almost” shire of Foxvale.

Our beginnings were humble. Our strength came from our members. We started out as friends and as more people found us, those friends grew into an extended family. The birth and growth of Ayreton has only served to make Foxvale stronger. We have more people to play with, more people to bounce ideas off of and different feasts to serve, which has helped give us a greater purpose and created a more cohesive sense of identity. The support that Ayreton has shown for our (Almost) shire has been incredible. For that many people to be not only rooting for us to reach shire status but to take such an active role in that process is uplifting and heart-warming. Thank you, Ayreton for helping us on our path. How wondrous that we are on that path together.